Venier Customs show no signs of slowing down or falling into any kind of routine or category, but although Stefano Venier's team is in Brooklyn and Treviso seem happy to work with any platform, one thing you can be sure of on every build; is a large helping of pure class. Ok, we admit it, we're Ducati fans. We like bikes that have heritage and a story to tell, but we also like bikes that go, stop and corner, and there's nothing wrong with being lightweight and using a bit of up to date technology either. Problem is, modern bikes are hard to strip back into the kind of build we like here on The Bike Shed, but in this build, Venier has pulled it off. "I built this bike for the Italian fashion photographer Riccardo Vimercati who I met in NY where we both work. It used to be his race bike - a 2003 Ducati 999s Testastretta that has some incredible race features like the STM EVO clutch, Discacciati front brake leaver, electronic gearchange and a Powertrain control unit." "Working on a race bike was a dream project for me, and actually a new experience because I was working with a newer motorcycle, which I'm doing right now with two brand new Moto Guzzi, a V7 Stone and a California 1400 that together don't even have 50 miles, It's a really awesome experience and a completely different approach to the build, and how to plan the customization and design." "We completely rebuilt the tail with a leather seat, integrated rear light, and a hand made frame. We switched the wheels with spoked ones from the Ducati GT 1000, which was really hard to do it right on a bike that has more than 150hp and flies like a rocket. The pipe is a mixture between a Termignoni corse and a Zard muffler, we custom join them, you should hear her voice now." "We removed everything we could, but it was a race bike, so they already removed the removable. We had to work on making this bike naked so a lot of brackets, relocations and electrical parts needed reducing. We changed all the lighting too. We tried to redesign the tank but was impossible to beat, one of the best tank ever designed to me. The side grids are a small touch to bring the bike out of the ordinary. The color is a dark grey, not black, and we hand made the front fender with brackets." There are some things you just can't change on a modern race bike without rebuilding the whole thing, but considering how much of the bike Stefano and his guys were stuck with it's a beautiful transformation, and feels like the perfect blend of timeless style and modern components. For a naked bike it's probably a handful, but I doubt Riccardo is complaining, & nor would we. See more from Venier customs Here on The Bike Shed and on their own Website. Photo are by Donatello Trevisiol